Meeting off on Convention Center impasse

Gov. Rendell has cancelled a meeting planned for 2 this afternoon with members of City Council, state lawmakers and members of the Convention Center Authority to try to end a stalemate that has threatened to derail the $700 million expansion of the center.

In a letter late Friday evening to Council President Anna C. Verna, he said he saw no reason for the meeting because of Council's unanimous vote in favor of new legislation that would, among other things, require each of the 17 trade unions that would work on the project to for the first time disclose the racial breakdown of its membership. The legislation, approved Thursday, would also require those unions to create a long-range "diversity plan" that must be approved by Council.

Those provisions were the result of discussions led by Mayor Street and three council members: Donna Reed Miller, Marian Tasco and W. Wilson Goode Jr.

Rendell, in his letter, also said he hoped the legislation would receive final approval from Council in a special meeting this Wednesday.